The second Cormorant (AMS-122) was launched 8 June 1953 by Mare Island Naval Shipyard; sponsored by Mrs. I. H. Whitthorne; and commissioned 14 August 1953, Lieutenant F. A. Mitchell, USNR, in command. She was reclassified MSC-122, 7 February 1955.

For the rest of the year Cormorant conducted minesweeping, sonar school, and other operations on the west coast except for a brief cruise to Pearl Harbor for duty with the Naval Reserve Training Center.

Sailing to the Far East, Cormorant arrived at her new home port Sasebo 22 February. She remained in the western Pacific conducting minesweeping exercises in Korean and Japanese waters and voyaging to Formosa, Okinawa, and the Philippines for training through 1960.